Bedfordshire man jailed for 26 years for killing toddler in Ipswich
Isabella Rose Wheildon was found dead in a temporary housing unit in June last year
Last updated 13th Dec 2024
A Bedfordshire man has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for murdering a two-year-old girl from Ipswich.
Isabella Wheildon's body was found in a pushchair in a locked bathroom at a temporary housing unit on Sidegate Lane, Ipswich, on June 30 last year.
Isabella's mother Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, who had been in a relationship with Jeff, was cleared of murder but will spend 10 in prison for causing or allowing the death of a child and two counts of child cruelty.
The former nursery worker, who's also 24 and of no fixed address, had previously pleaded guilty those charges
Jeff, who is not the girl's father, was also found guilty of two counts of two counts of child cruelty, which he'd also denied.
"Escalating brutality"
Speaking during the trial, prosecutor Sally Howes KC told jurors that Isabella was a "healthy, contented, well-cared for little girl until Scott Jeff came into her young life".
"Towards the end of May 2023, he entered a relationship with Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell," said Ms Howes, as she opened the prosecution case last month.
"From that time up to her death, Isabella was subjected to a regime of escalating brutality which was callous, cruel and ultimately fatal."
She said Isabella's "own mother Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell stood back, watched, did nothing and allowed this to happen".
"Extensive external traumatic injuries"
The barrister said a post-mortem examination identified "extensive external traumatic injuries to the soft tissues of the body including head, neck, torso, limbs" and other areas.
Ms Howes said Isabella sustained fractures to both wrists and a "complex pelvic fracture involving several bones".
She said the toddler's cause of death was given as "bone marrow embolism caused by skeletal trauma".
During their time in Ipswich, CCTV enquiries found numerous occasions where the pair went out and about without Isabella, leaving her alone in the flat.
In the three-days following Isabella's death, they proceeded to carry-on as ‘normal’, pushing Isabella’s body around in a buggy. This included getting the bus into town to go shopping and going to the pub.
Detective Chief Inspector Craig Powell, the Senior Investigating Officer, said: “As I said following the convictions, the murder of any child is the worst crime imaginable. No sentence will ever be long enough, but the court has imposed the most severe penalties that it has deemed appropriate.
“Throughout this entire investigation we have been fully focused on achieving justice for Isabella and her family, and that has now been delivered. We know nothing will ever bring her back, but we have ensured that the person responsible for her murder has been sentenced to a significant prison term.
“I once again want to pay tribute to the family who have had to endure the unimaginable pain caused by Isabella’s death, alongside the trauma of all the details that have been divulged during the trial. A trial which could have been avoided had Scott Jeff admitted his guilt.
“The family have remained dignified throughout all of this and have provided me and my team with their full cooperation, trust and support, for which I am very grateful.
“None of us involved in this case will ever forget Isabella and as I said previously, she has truly touched our hearts, along with those of so many others who she met during her short life.”
During the trial, Gleason-Mitchell admitted that she failed to intervene or take any action to remove Isabella from the situation and that she put her relationship with Jeff ahead of protecting her daughter.
Jeff denied ever assaulting Isabella and said he did not know how she had got her injuries. He claimed there were occasions that he had gone out and when he came back she had hurt herself and that Gleason-Mitchell told him she had fallen over.
When passing sentence, the judge described Jeff’s attacks on Isabella as “monstrous”, while he called Gleason-Mitchell “weak and spineless” for doing nothing to stop him.
Anyone who has been impacted by the information shared about Isabella and would like to talk to someone, the Samaritans are available anytime, day or night, and can be contacted on 116 123.